Federal court upholds shark finning ban that had roots in Marin

A federal court in San Francisco issued a ruling Wednesday upholding legislation prohibiting the sale of shark fins in California — a movement with Marin origins.

In October 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill cosponsored by then-Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael banning the sale of shark fins for food.

Every year fins from up to 73 million sharks are used for shark fin soup, contributing to the decimation of shark populations worldwide, biologists say. Once the fins are sliced off a shark's body, the animals are often dumped overboard, dead or alive, according to backers of the bill.

California's shark fin law was challenged last year by local merchants who alleged the ban exceeds the state's legislative authority under the U.S. Constitution.

In her ruling, the U.S. District Court of Northern California judge Phyllis J. Hamilton found the law was within the state's authority, adding the "practice of shark finning causes the death of tens of millions of sharks every year ... California can help ensure that sharks do not become extinct."

It was shark researcher David McGuire of Fairfax who started the effort to ban fin sales. He worked to get the town of Tiburon — which means "shark" in Spanish — to approve a proclamation in 2008 backing a Bel Aire School student-led effort to raise awareness about finning.

"This is great news," said Huffman, who will be sworn into Congress Thursday as Marin's representative in the House of Representatives.

"This is the right outcome and now we look forward to the policy being implemented."

Shark fin soup is widely available. A U.S. WildAid survey found one-third of Chinese restaurants in San Francisco serve the dish, considered a delicacy and priced from $6.95 to $85 a bowl.

Some who opposed the law called it an assault on Asian cultural cuisine.

But Jennifer Fearing, the Humane Society of the United States' California senior state director, said the law is about protecting a species. She called the ruling a "important animal welfare and conservation measure."

"Sharks need their fins, and we don't," she said. "The momentum to protect sharks globally has taken a huge leap forward."